Gawdzilla Sama wrote:How much do I have to pay to NOT go to Peking? (At least not for 55 days.)

55 days?

This tour, below, with Yangtze River cruise is even more terrific. I've taken it with my current and previous wife. On one cruise there was a framed letter on a wall from Bill Gates who said how much he loved the cruise, the people, and the fun he had. I figure that maybe the next best thing to being a billionaire might be living like a billionaire.https://www.gate1travel.com/asia-pacifi ... yz216.aspx

If one can be taught to believe absurdities, one can commit atrocities. --Voltaire

Gawdzilla Sama wrote:How much do I have to pay to NOT go to Peking? (At least not for 55 days.)

55 days?

This tour, below, with Yangtze River cruise is even more terrific. I've taken it with my current and previous wife. On one cruise there was a framed letter on a wall from Bill Gates who said how much he loved the cruise, the people, and the fun he had. I figure that maybe the next best thing to being a billionaire might be living like a billionaire.https://www.gate1travel.com/asia-pacifi ... yz216.aspx

I also would recommend any package trip to china that includes the Yangtze River tour. The town it takes off from was the highlight of the entire tour. If I went again, I'd schedule a few days there for after the formal package. I saw an ad there for a bicycle ride down the mountain that is there. that would be fun but you need a half day.

Peking was terrible as was the duck.

Real Name: bobbo the existential pragmatic evangelical anti-theist and Class Warrior.Asking: What is the most good for the most people?Sample Issue: Should the Feds provide all babies with free diapers?

Real Name: bobbo the existential pragmatic evangelical anti-theist and Class Warrior.Asking: What is the most good for the most people?Sample Issue: Should the Feds provide all babies with free diapers?

bobbo_the_Pragmatist wrote:I also would recommend any package trip to china that includes the Yangtze River tour. The town it takes off from was the highlight of the entire tour. If I went again, I'd schedule a few days there for after the formal package. I saw an ad there for a bicycle ride down the mountain that is there. that would be fun but you need a half day.

Peking was terrible as was the duck.

Are you sure you were eating the right part of the duck?

With Peking Duck you just eat the thinly sliced off, potato chip-like skin, dipped in various sauces. The rest of the carcass goes into a soup pot. We tried to eat it the wrong way at our table, one of several our group had, the first time I was there, with disappointing results, not knowing what the bowls of "potato chips" were or what the sauces were for.

Our guide at the time later said she didn't know why Americans ate duck that way, trying to slice meat off the carcass. She was terrific, as were the others we've had since, but now they know to be sure to explain how the Chinese prefer to eat duck.

If one can be taught to believe absurdities, one can commit atrocities. --Voltaire

I tried to put this on my Netflix queue, but it went to the secondary list "availability unknown."

It's a hoot to watch these days. The Boxer Rebellion was spurred by demands that "Western" countries stop dumping opium on the China market. At the end the signatories of the Nine-Power Treaty march into to Beijing and break the siege of the foreign compounds. One of the "rescue parties" is Japanese.

Side note: The Boxers (Celestial Order of the Fist) wrapped yards and yards of cloth around their chests and wet it, making them less vulnerable to the 9mm pistols of the foreigners. This caused a demand for a heavier sidearm and the .45 Colt automatic was born.